Sometimes life demands a certain clinical decisiveness. In last week’s reading, this need for decisiveness was exacerbated by the heightened tensions that came to the fore in both sibling and marital rivalries. Sarah saw conflict on the horizon with her handmaiden, Hagar (aka, Keturah), vying for power in the family lineage through her son, Ishmael, […] http://bethsholomsf.org/chayai-sarah-genesis-231-2518-3/Continue Reading...

To reach the place of infinite earthly delight – that is the true destination of almost any traveler. The essentials that were once needed for any journey and are nowadays taken for granted appear to be alluded to in this week’s reading. “Abraham planted a tamarisk [eshel] at Be’er Sheva and invoked the divine name there […] http://bethsholomsf.org/vayeira-genesis-1812-224/Continue Reading...

How often have you taken advantage of a last minute travel deal? Today, it may feel good not to know where you will travel until the very last minute; it allows you to discover some new, exotic destination at a great rate. In the ancient Near Eastern mind, however, that same sense of journeying without […] http://bethsholomsf.org/lech-lecha-genesis-121-1727-3/Continue Reading...

Are there consequences to our actions? Do our relationships reflect the consequences of our choices? The choice made last week by Abraham to nearly sacrifice Isaac has profound consequences upon the matriarch, Sarah. The rabbinic exegesis (Pirkai d’Rabbi Eliezer 32) captures this trauma well: “When Abraham came from Mount Moriah, Samael [Satan] was furious that […] http://bethsholomsf.org/chayai-sarah-genesis-231-2518-2/Continue Reading...

My name is Sabina Lyon-Freedman, and I’m in the 7th grade at Roosevelt Middle School. I enjoy playing violin, baking, acting, reading, watching movies, writing novels and poems, spending time with friends (including some of my best friends at Beth Sholom), and petting my cat, Buster. For my bat mitzvah this coming Shabbat, I will […] http://bethsholomsf.org/sabina-freedmans-bat-mitzvah/Continue Reading...

How many trials must we overcome in life? Abraham is said to have overcome ten trials. Notice the way language links them: “Go…to the land I shall show” (Genesis 12:1) to “Sacrifice your son on one of the mountains I shall show you” (Genesis 22:2). Clearly then, Lech Lecha last week is linked with Vayeira […] http://bethsholomsf.org/vayeira-genesis-181-2224-2/Continue Reading...

We move from the displacement associated with the Tower of Babel at the end of last week’s reading to even deeper displacement this week as the Torah introduces us to the journey of Abram and Sarai. Their leaving home can be thought of as the setting of a tripwire, a process of setting in motion […] http://bethsholomsf.org/lech-lecha-genesis-121-1727-2/Continue Reading...

Riding Your Wave In the Sea of Judaism: The Start-up Camp Ramah Galim There is nothing quite like the oceanic rhythm of Camp Ramah campers and staff surrounding you from dawn till dusk. In those eternal moments, you begin to feel the pulse of this camp’s namesake — Galim. Singing, dancing, exploring, studying, rock climbing, […] http://bethsholomsf.org/camp-ramah-galim/Continue Reading...

What is the mark of a life well lived? Epicurus (341 – 270 BCE), founder of the Epicurean school of thought, defined a well-lived life as follows: “It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly. And it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living […] http://bethsholomsf.org/chayai-sarah-genesis-231-2518/Continue Reading...

Crowned as the Knight of Faith at the close of Lech Lecha, Vayeira picks up just three days after Abraham’s circumcision, when his steadfast conviction affords him the ability to see the divine that is revealed in the mundane. At this moment of divine self-revelation known as a theophany, Abraham encounters three men, wayfarers approaching […] http://bethsholomsf.org/vayeira-genesis-181-2224/Continue Reading...